(a)whether the State Bank of India (SBI) has levied various penalties and charges on its account holders;

(b)if so, the details thereof;

(c)whether these charges cause hardship to account holders, if so, the details thereof; (d)the total earning of SBI by these penalties till date;

(e)whether the Government is going to take necessary steps to wean off unnecessary penalties; and

(f)if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

ANSWER

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance

(a) & (b) As per Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) extant instructions, Scheduled Commercial Banks may decide the charges for various services rendered by them as per their Board approved policy. While fixing the same, banks are to ensure that the charges are reasonable and in line with the average cost of providing these services. The detail of various charges applicable to retail Saving Bank account-holders as informed by SBI are at Annexure.

(c) As informed by SBI, more than 13 crore Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) account-holders including Jan Dhan account-holders are provided basic banking services free of cost. The regular savings bank account-holders of SBI are allowed to (i) deposit in own account through cash deposit machines using card or receive credit to the account through transfer or clearing or other digital modes unlimited number of times, (ii) cash deposit at branch 3 times in a month, (iii) withdraw cash from ATMs 8 times in a month in 6 metro centres (5 at SBI ATMs and 3 at other Banks’ ATMs) and 10 times in a month in non-metro centres (5 at SBI ATMs and 5 at other Banks’ ATMs), (iv) debit through internet / mobile banking transactions at least 20 times in a month, (v) withdraw cash from branch at least 2 times in a month free of charge. SBI has informed that for an individual savings bank account-holder, this is considered to be more than adequate.

(d) to (f) As informed by SBI, an amount of Rs.2,127 crore has been earned on account of various charges by the bank till 31.12.2017, in the current financial year.

The monthly average balance requirement was charged by SBI till 2012. Subsequently, SBI stopped charging for the same till 31.3.2016 while other banks, including private banks were charging as per their Board-approved policy. While it was reintroduced by SBI with effect from 1.4.2017, the minimum balance requirements and the charges were subsequently reduced by SBI with effect from 1.10.2017.

Comments

I was charged Rs.575/- for transfering one of my SBI a/cs from one SBI Br. to another SBI Br. When I asked as to why I am charged for transfering the a/c, the branch manager said it is the clossing charges. I have mentioned in the application to close the a/c in the 1st bank and transfer the a/c to another br. But if my wording was wrong, they should have pointed out the same on the spot. Instead, they simply charged the closing fee. Is it right?

This is not Mandatory/Compulsory to debit the money in account. This in-order of RBI/SBI.. Immediately SBI should stoped the charging. What wants RBI/SBI ? This is the rough policy of RBI/SBI. No Enhancement of daily limits (Rs 2500- to 4500/-). .